Cap applying machine



R. c. s'rRouT 2,036,105

CAP APPLYING MACHINE v INVENTOQI( ZW wml j my@ @1m/111g.

l ATTONEY R. c. STRou-r 'CAP APPLYING MACHINE Filed Dec. 11, 1954. 5Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR n H Wt w M ATTORNEY March 31, 1936. R, C, STRQUT2,036J5 CAP APPLYING MACHINE Filed Deo. 11, 1964` 5 Sheets-Sheet 3ATTORNEY T U O R T. S Q R.

CAP APPLYING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Dec. 11, 1954 INVENTOR f/MQ. @6.3M maf/M QAM ATTORNEY Y March `31, 1936.

R. c. sTRouT 2,036,105

CAP APPLYING MACHINE Filed Dec. 1l, 1954 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR BY/whvl Q sw j mwa., MMM.

ATTORNEY Patented `Mar.

mor.

CAP APPLYING MACHINE Ralph c. stront, Wollaston, Moss., ossimorloPneumatic Scale Corporation, limited, Quincy, .Ma,ss., a corporation ofMassachusetts Applioouoo nooombor 11, 1934, serial No. 756,952 11claims. (ci. 22e-so) invention relates to a cap applying machine.

One object of the invention is to provide a novel and-highly eiiicientmachine for applying caps or coverings to containers and by which thecapped containers may be produced in a rapid and economical manner.

.il further and more specic object of the invention is to provide anovel and eiiicient machine for applying contractible caps or coverings,such as those of wet regenerated cellulose, to the top and neck portionsof bottles in order to provide the bottles with sealing members shrunkin tightly ntting relation upon the top and neck thereof and entirelycovering the closure therefor so that the sealing cap is required to hedestroyed in order to open the bottle.

With these general objects in View and such others as may hereinafterappear, the invention consists in theI cap applying machine and in thevarious structures, arrangements and combinations of parts hereinafterdescribed and particularly defined in the claims at the end of thisspecification.

While the different features of the invention may he used with advantagein a cap applying machine for the application of various caps todifferent types of containers, the invention is particularly useful inthe application of caps or coverings of 'Wet regenerated cellulose overthe top of nlled and closed bottles and around the neck thereof in sucha manner that when the cap or covering' dries it will shrink intotightlyfitted relation upon the top and neck of the hottle entirely coveringthe closure and forming a sealing member which must be destroyed orbroken in order to open the bottle.

ln the drawings illustrating the preferred ern-f hodiment of theinvention, Fig. l is aside eleva" tion of the machine; Fig. 2 is aperspective View v of a cap or covering in opened position; Figs. 3 andtl are viewsof a cap applied to a bottle, before l andafter shrinkingrespectively; Fig. 5 is a front elevation of the machine with some ofthe parts omitted; Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectional elevation' taken onthe line t-t of Fig. 5, showing details of the cap feeding and applying'mechanism; Fig. 'l is a vievv similar to Fig. 6 with'the parts indifferent positions; Fig. d is a detail View of a cam to he referred to;Figs. 9, 10 and ll are detail views of the cap applying mechanism indifferent positions; Fig. l2. is a cross-sectionah l vievv taken on theline lf-lf of Fig. 9 showing a cap in position to be applied to abottle; and

Fig. 13 is a cross-sectional detail taken on the line |3-l3 ofFg. 6. o

In the illustrated machine a supply of the wet regenerated cellulosecaps or coverings, in col'- lapsed condition, is preferably 'stored in amagazine and provision is made for automatically lwithdrawing successivecaps or coverings from the magazine, opening the same, and applying theopen caps over the tops of successive bottles in a positive and highlyemcient manner and into such positions that the caps upon drying mayshrink into tightly tting relation on the tops and necks of the bottles,entirely covering the closures therefor. A

Referring now to the' drawings, in the illustrated machine the filledand closed bottles are fed into the machine on an incoming conveyor fromwhich a bottle is transferred into cap applying position intermediatethe incoming conveyor and a discharge conveyor. The caps to heap- 'pliedare transferred frorna magazine by a vacuum operated device and thenopened and positioned over the bottle to he capped. After the cap hasbeen applied tothe bottle, the capped bottle is transferred tothe-outgoing conveyor to be discharged from the machine.,

The machine is mounted upon leg members l? supporting a platen d uponwhich the main oper= ating mechanisms of the machine are mounted. lhedriving mechanism for driving the various instrumentalities of themachine is mounted heneath' the platen il upon suitable shafts journaledin bearings in the supporting legs t. The driving mechanism may hedescribed as follows: d. driving pulley t, driven from any convenientsource, such as anv electric motor, not shown, ls mounted on a.' shortshaft The shaft d is provided with a gear lf secured thereon arranged tomesh with a gear ld on the outer end of a main cam shaft it and thelatter has mounted `tlflereon allof the cams for performing the varieous operations of the machine, as will he de scribed. The gear if isprovidedvvith a sprocket ft secured thereto which is connected through achain fd and sprocket ft toa shaft 'f2 so that the shaft is driven fromthe gear l2. The shaft ff is' provided with a sprocket dt connected hy achain fitto a sprocket tt secured to the end of the shaft of a vacuumpump of any usual or preferred construction and vacuum pump 50 isutilized, as will be described, to create the vacuum employed intransferring and opening the individual caps during theapplicationthereof v to the hotties.

ds previously pointed out in the operation of 5t the machine the bottlesare fed into the machine on an incoming conveyor 50 driven from anysuitable source, not shown, and thereafter the bottle is transferredfrom the incoming conveyor to a plate 62 and positioned under thecapping head. The transfer of the bottle may be effected either manuallyor by a pusher mechanism 288 generally shown in Fig. 1. After the caphas been applied, the bottle is transferred to the outgoing conveyor 5I,either manually or by a second pusher mechanism 240, generally indicatedin Fig. 1. The outgoing conveyor 5I, driven from any suitable source,not shown, discharges the capped bottles from the machine. After thebottle has been transferred to the cap applying station, provision ismade for withdrawing a collapsed tubular cap or covering from the bottomof a vertical stack thereof supported in a magazine 260, and fortransferring the cap from the horizontal position in which it iswithdrawn to a vertical position, and also for thereafter moving the capto a position immediately above the neck portion of the bottle to whichit is to be applied. The collapsed caps are stacked by an operator inthe magazine 260 in a wet condition and are supported at the bottomthereof by small projecting fingers 262 in such manner that thelowermost cap may be readily removed and the remaining caps retainedwithin the magazine. The cap withdrawing and transferring deviceindicated generally at 280 is mounted to rock in a bearing in a hub 283formed on a horizontal slide member 284. A plurality of tubes 28l haveattached to them at their outer ends a fiat suction plate 286 and theirinner ends are secured to a hollow sleeve 282. The suction plate isprovided with a plurality of openings or ports communicating with thetubes 20E and the latter communicate with the interior of the hollowsleeve 282, so that when suction is created within the hollow sleeve 282the lowermost cap in the magazine may be drawn into contact with thesuction plate, as illustrated in Fig. 13. The hollow sleeve 282 isconnected with the suction pump through pipe connections 281, suctioncontrol valve 288 and connecting pipes 289, and through a connectingelbow 285. A vertical reciprocatory motion is imparted to the cap feeder280 by a cam 500 keyed to the main cam shaft I6 and provided with a campath 502 cooperating with a cam roll 504 on a cam lever 508 pivotallysupported on a shaft 60, the outer end of the cam lever 506 beingconnected toa lever 296 by a connecting rod 298 and imparts a rockingmotion to a shaft 300 to which the lever 296 is secured. A lever 302 issecured to the shaft 300 and imparts a sliding motion to a slide 3I0through a slotted connecting rod 304 to which it is connected by aclamping connecting screw 306 in a slot 308. The second end of theconnecting rod 304 is connected to the vertical slide 3I0 through a pin3I2. The vertical slide 3I0 is slidably mounted in a bracket 3I6 whichin turn is fastened to and supported on a bracket 3I8 attached to theplaten 4. The vertical slide 3I0 is retained in sliding position bysuitable gibs 309. Attached to the lower end of the slide 3I0 is ahorizontal slide bracket 322 which forms a sliding support for the slidemember 284 upon which the cap feeder 280 is mounted. The slide 284 isretained in sliding position by a gib 340 attached to the member 322. Ahorizontal sliding motion is imparted to the slide 284 by means of alink 350, one end of which is connected to the slide by a pin 352fastened to a hub 354. A slot 360 is provided in the bracket 322 topermit the reciprocatory motion of the hub 354 therein. The second endof the connecting rod 358 is connected to a lever 328 mounted free toswing on a pin 322 attached to the vertical slide 3I0. A connecting rod314 is pivotally connected at one end to the lever 378 by a pin 316, andat the other end to one arm 318 of a bell crank lever by a pin 388. Theouter end of the second arm 382 of the bell crank lever is connected bya link 384 to a lever 386 secured to a shaft 388 by connecting pins 390.The shaft 388 is rocked by a cam 396 secured to the main cam shaft I6and having a cam path 398 cooperating with a cam roller 400 supported ona cam lever 402 pivotally mounted on the shaft 60. The cam lever 402 isoperatively connected to a lever 408 secured to the shaft by aconnecting rod 406.

From the above description it will be observed that as the cap feederslide 284 is moved to thc left, viewing Fig. 6, the cap feeder 280 iscaused to rotate in a counterclockwise direction to bring the collapsedcap from a horizontal to a vertical position. This rotation is effectedby a cam 4I0 attached to the bracket 322 through contact with a roller4I2 carried on an arm 4I4 secured to the sleeve 282.

Provision is made for applying suction to the cap feeder at the time inthe operation of the machine when the suction plate 286 is in contact gwith the lowermost cap in the magazine, causing the same to be removedtherefrom and held upon the suction plate 288 until the applying deviceoperates to place it on the bottle. To this end, the valve 288 is formedin a bracket 29| attached to the platen 4 and comprises a rocking shaft293 having a valve port 294 adapted to be rocked by a lever 295 fastenedto the outer end of the valve shaft 293 and connected by a connectingrod 291 to one arm 299 of a bell crank 30| pivotally mounted on theshaft 60. The other arm of the bell crank 30I is provided with a camroll 303 cooperating with an open cam 305 secured to the main cam shaftI6. It will thus be seen that the maintenance of suction at the suctionplate 286 is so controlled by the valve 288 that suction is applied whenthe suction plate 286 contacts with the lowermost cap in the magazineand is maintained to hold the cap thus removed until it is delivered tothe cap applying device hereinafter to be described.

After the cap or covering has been moved into cap applying position asshown in Fig. 7, a second suction member is caused to engage theopposite or free surface of the cap to assist in opening i it intotubular form and to thereby enable the cap to be inserted into the capapplying device. The second suction member comprises suction tubes 430and 432 attached to a hollow sleeve 434 rotatably mounted on an arm 436.The end of the hollow sleeve 434 is connected to the suction pump 28through pipes 638, a valve 440, and the pipes 84I and 289. The valve 440is the same in construction as the valve 288 above described, beingoperated to open and close the suction line in proper timed relation, bymeans of a cam 442 attached to the shaft I6, acting upon a cam roll 444mounted on the end of an arm 446 of a bell crank lever 448 pivoted onthe shaft 60. The second end of the bell crank lever 448 is connected bymea-ns of a connecting rod 450 to a valve operating arm 452 whichoperates the valve 440.

Referring now to Fig. 7, the arm 436 which carries the hollow sleeve 434and the suction members 430, 432 is mounted to swing freely on a stud 75thereof an' arm 45t.

l tt is connected by a link 453 to e. fixed stud 45t lib till

acadien 455 fastened in the bracket BIB. The tubular sleeve 434 ismounted to turn in the lower end oi the arm 536 and has attached to oneend The outer end of the arm secured to the bracket 3l8. An arm 355formed as a part of the upper portion of the arm 555 is connected by anadjustable connecting rod 45t to the outer end of an arm 46B secured toa shaft ttt. The connecting rod Q53 is provided in its upper end with anadjusting slot ttt with which a clamping bolt 45B in the end of the armttt cooperates, to adjus'tably clamp the upper end ot the connecting rod45B with the arm ttt. llihe lower end oi' the connecting rod ttt ispivotaily connected to the arm 455 by a pin tit so as to provide asubstantially straight-line horizontal motion to the suction memberstill, litt, as the latter are moved into and from the cap applyingstation. The shaft ttt has a rocking motion imparted to it by a camll'll secured to the shaft lt, and the cam has a cam path tl?cooperating` with a roller lt'll located intermediate the ends ci alever 455 pivoted on the shaft tt. The outer end of the lever 455 isconnected by a connecting rod tit to the outer end of a lever tit whichis secured to the shaft ttt. v

lin the operation of the illustrated machine, as thus far described, itwill be seen that the cap or covering is placed and retained in positionabove the bottle by the suction members ttt and ttl. Provision is nowmade tor partially opening the cap into substantially cylindrical lterm,so that it may be inserted into a cap applying unit lllt, and to thisend the suction members ttt and ttl are caused to be withdrawnslightlyby their respective cams ttt and t'll. In the loperation of themachine, while the cap is retained by the suction members in a partiallyopened position, the cap applying unit1 ltlll is lowered and an airnozzle itl is caused to move up into a position to torce a jet oi airinto the cap so that the cap will be projected intothe cap applying unitlllt as it is being lowered. it the same time the suction members tttand titl are drawn still further apart and returned to their originalpositions, as illustrated in Fig. 9. 'li'he air nozzle ltl is moved by acam itt mounted on the cam shaftmlt and which cooperates 'with a 'rollerlllt'on a cam le ver itil loosely mounted on the rocker shaft til. Theouter end of the cam lever itt is connected to one arm itt of abell-crank by a linl; l llt. The bell-crank is pivotally mounted on astud itl secured to a bracketv ttt which is mounted on the platen l. Theother arm ltd oi the bell-cranir is connected to a lever lill by a linlrlll. .lis shown in Fig. l2, the lever llt is secured to an air tube lltwhich is carried by the braclret itt. The lever llt and tube llt areheld from longitudinal displacement by retaining washers or collars llt.The air nozzle lul is connected to one end of the tube l l 2 and theother end is connected by flexible tubing lill to an air valve lltsimilar in construction and operation to the valves above described inconnection with the suction members 2st and Mil at the proper time by acam ll5, see Fig. 5. Air is supplied under pressure to the valve fromanyconvenient source of supply through a pipe llt.

Referring now to Figs. l and l2, after the cap has been projected intothe cap applying unit lllt, the cap is retained in the unit and incomplete tubular form by suction applied to the sides thereof. A hollowsleeve lll forming' a part of the cap applying unit lllll is providedwith holes llt The valve llt is opened and closed which communicate withan air space llt cut in the sleeve ll'l, and is connected to the vacuumpump 2t through connection itil, tube itl, flexible tubing l2t, andvalve itt. The valve lill. similar to the valves above referred to, isactuated to apply and retain suction at the proper intervals by a cam ltthrough connections similar to those described in reference to thesuction members 2M and ttl.

While the cap is retained therein by the suction as above described, thecapping unit is now lowered with the cap, over-the top ot the bottle, tothe position shown in Fig. i0, to apply the cap to the bottle. f Thehollow sleeve lll is carried by a. slide member lib which is arranged tobe raised and lowered on a vertical slide lili by a cam itl secured tothe cam shaft it. li. roller llt mounted on a cam lever llt cooperateswith a cam path lit in the cam lll. The cam lever lill, loosely mountedin the shaft tll, is connected at its outer end to a lever itl securedto a shaft itt, by a linlr itt. A second lever itt secured to the shaltltt is connected to the slide member llt by a linlr llit', as shown inFig. 1. v

As illustrated in Figs. lll and 1l., it will be seen that the secondmember or thecapping unit itt comprises a plunger lllt which lits intothe hollow sleevelll and is shaped at its lower end to conform to thecontour of the top ot the cap.` The plunger llt is also provided with anair hole ltl'l through which air is allowed to pass at the proper time,as will be described. The plunger itt is arranged to descend with thehollow sleeve ll'l as a unit, when the cap is being applied as shown inlig. lll, but is operated individually through the followingconnections. The plungeris clamped to a second slide member ltill on thevertical slide itt and the slide member itt is actuated to be raised andlowered by a cam itt secured to the cam shaft it through connectionsincluding a cam roll llill cooperating with a cam path llll, cam leveritt, linir itil, and lever lllt secured to a shaft l titi;v .il secondlever lllt on the shaft lllb is'connected to the slide member tilt by alink lll'l.

Referring now to Fig. il, in order to assure the retention of the cap onthe bottle, the suction on the cap is released and the hollow sleeve lllis raised to the position shown, while the plunger ltli remains inContact with the cap. a jet of air is then projected through the holeitl in the plunger itt and at the same time the plunger is withdrawnfrom the cap, leaving the cap on the bottle. The cap applying unit lltis then returned toits original position in readiness to start anothercycle. The airis supplied to the air hole lt'l from any convenientsource of air under pressurethroughthe valve llt and flexible tubinglitt. The valve itt is operated to release air at the proper time by acam itt, see Fig. 5, and through connections similar to those describedabove. All the cams lor operating the valves are open cams and therollers are heldin contact with the cams by springs'v itt, as shown inFig. 6.

While certain features ol the invention are particularly designed foruse in the application ci caps of wet regenerated cellulose to the topsoi' the bottles, nevertheless, it is not desired to limit the use of theinvention thereto, as other caps may be applied to other forms 'ofcontainers.

Having thus described the invention, what is` claimed iszl. ln a machinefor applying a cap of the character described to a bottle, incombination, means for storing a bulk supply ol collapsed caps, meansfor withdrawing-successive caps from saiclsupply,

fill

lli

lid

lll

and means for applying a cap over the top of and onto the neck oi' thebottle, including a hollow cap applying unit adapted to be lowered overthe top and neck of the bottle, and means for directing an air blastwithin a cap to project it into said unit, and operating mechanismfor'raising and lowering the cap applying unit.

2. In a machine for applying a cap of the character described to abottle, in combination, means for supporting a bottle, means iorengaging and holding a cap in a collapsed condition, and means forapplying the cap to the bottle over the top thereof, including a hollowcap applying member, and means for directing an air blast within the capto project it into the hollow cap applying member in an open condition.

3. In a machine for applying a cap of the character described to abottle, in combination, means for supporting a bottle, means forengaging and holding a cap in a collapsed condition, and means forapplying the cap to a bottle over the top thereof, including a hollowcap applying member, means for introducing a cap in an open conditioninto said cap applying member, and means for retaining the same thereinduring movement of the cap applying member over the top of the bottle.

4. In a machine for applying a cap of the character described to abottle, in combination, means for supporting a bottle, means forengaging and holding a cap in a collapsed condition, and means forapplying the cap to the bottle over the top thereof, including a hollowcap applying member. means for relatively moving the cap applying memberand bottle, means for directing an air blast within a cap to open thesame and project it into the cap applying member, and suction means forholding the open cap within the cap applying member.

5. In a machine for applying a cap to a bottle, in combination, bottlesupporting means, a hollow cap applying member movable toward and fromthe bottle supporting means, operating means for moving the cap applyingmember, a cap engaging member for positioning successive caps below thecap applying member, an air nozzle movable into a position beneath thecap thus positioned to introduce a blast of air within the cap andproject it into the cap applying member, and suction means for holdingthe open cap Within the cap applying member during the movement thereofover the top of the bottle.

6. In a machine for applying a cap of the character described to abottle, in combination, means for supporting a bottle, means forengaging and holding a cap in a collapsed condition, and means forapplying the cap to a bottle over the top thereof, including a hollowcap applying member, means for introducing an open cap therein, meansfor retaining the cap in the cap applying member in an open condition,and projecting means cooperating with the cap for insuring theseparation of the cap from the cap applying member after the depositionof the cap upon the bottle.

7. In a machine for applying a cap oi the character described to abottle, in combination,

means for supporting a bottle, means for engaging and holding a cap in acollapsed condition, and means for applying the cap to the bottle overthe top thereof, including a hollow cap applying member, means forintroducing an open cap therein, means for retaining the cap in the capapplying member in an open condition, and projecting means cooperatingwith the cap for insuring the separation of the cap from the capapplying member after the deposition of the cap onto the bottle, saidmeans including a plunger, and means for effecting relative movement ofthe plunger and cap applying member.

3. In a machine for applying a cap of the character described to abottle, in combination, means for supporting a bottle, means forengaging and holding a cap in a collapsed condition, and means forapplying the cap to the bottle over the top thereof, including a hollowcap applying member, means for introducing an open cap therein, meansfor retaining the cap in the cap applying member in an open condition,and projecting means cooperating with the cap for insuring theseparation of the cap from the cap applying member after the depositionof the cap upon the bottle, said means including a plunger, and meansfor directing an air blast through said plunger.

9. In a machine for applying a cap of the character described to abottle, in combination, means for supporting a bottle, means forengaging and holding a cap in a collapsed condition, and means forapplying the cap to the bottle over the top thereof, including a capapplying member comprising a sleeve and a plunger movable within thesleeve, said plunger being provided with an air passage, the sleeve andplunger cooperating to form a hollow cap applying member of a sizesuilicient to it over the top of the bottle, means for introducing a capin an open condition into the cap applying member, means for moving thecap applying member to apply the cap onto the bottle, means for movingthe sleeve with relation to the plunger to withdraw the sleeve fromaround the cap after the latter has been applied to the bottle, andmeans for directing an air blast through the passage in the plungerduring the upward movement of the sleeve and plunger.

10. In a cap applying machine, in combination, container supportingmeans, means for engaging and holding a cap in a collapsed condition,means for applying the cap to the container over the top thereof,including a hollow cap applying member, and cap opening meanscooperating therewith.

11. In a cap applying machine, in combination,

container supporting means, means for engaging and holding a cap in acollapsed condition, means for applying the cap to the container overthe top thereof, including a cap applying member, means for opening thecap and moving it into operative engagement by the cap applying member,means for relatively moving the cap applying member and container todeposit the cap over the top of the container.

I RALPH C. STROUT.

